What's The Play? with Anthony 'Play' Douglas

This week, Mr. Play celebrates his African heritage and speaks with new artist OFFCOURSE

Written by Anthony 'Play' Douglas
04/06/2018 03:07 PM

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AFRICAN PRIDE: Mr. Play

I WAS proud to have represented my maternal heritage of Sierra Leone this past week at two key African events!

The One Africa Fest held at Wembley arena showcased a fantastic collection of African artists representing the Motherland’s respective countries. Massive shout out to the organisers, what a great show it was! I’m looking forward to future growth in African representation at events like this, especially for those smaller countries!

Mr. Play at One Africa Fest

I also attended the The Pride of Africa Awards, which recognises great work and accomplishments within the African community. It was an honour to present the award for the “Best Event Organiser of the Year” which was won by “SMADE Events”.

It was a inspiring awards ceremony that celebrated the best achievements within our African community. Shout out to Toba and all the event organisers for a well put together ceremony! Next year Sierra Leone WILL be seen in some categories, and I look forward to it!

I wanted to include a feature on Pedro Community Centre Boxing Club, as I was captured by the great and inspiring work it achieves with the youth. They work hard to promote a positivite outlook, good health, education, and community-building to young people and adults.

On behalf of Pedro Community Centre; they would like to thank all the voulenteers, spectaters and boxers at our charity fund raising boxing event last saturday 2nd June.

A boxing ring was set up outdoors where young people of different ages took part in boxing fights against participants from other clubs across London. They also provided food, drinks, and raffles for the public.

Pedro Community Centre

Centre Manager James Cook MBE a local resident and former British Super-Middleweight Champion along with the rest of the amazing team invite you to come along to Pedros community centre and feel empowered, supported and re-energised.

This week, I also met with new rapper OFFCOURSE from the ends. His name speaks for itself and reflects his game changing approach to his music. New track released this week, here’s more about him:

Q: Who is OFFCOURSE?

A: I’m a new artist coming straight out of South London, and I’m taking my own unique approach!

Q: So what’s the current release?

A: My debut track ‘Image (Tell Me)’

OFFCOURSE

Q: What messages are you aiming to deliver through your new track?

A: It’s aim is to be thought-provoking, self-reflective; being a confessional rap song which touches on the dangers of materialism and social media.

Q: Would you say it’s a game changer track to what’s currently out on the market?

A: Definitely! I wanted to mix it up, so the track interestingly samples an American 1980’s soul track titled ‘It’ll All Be Over’ by The Supreme Jubilees which makes a change for the UK scene. The hard-hitting drum beat and bassline, mixed with these honest lyrics, has definitely earned its position as a stand-out track, especially on its release this week.